Spreading and feeding assembly



Nov. 8, 1960 R. F. PENDERGAST SPREADING AND FEEDING ASSEMBLY 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 2. 1959 R. F. PENDERGAST SPREADING AND FEEDINGASSEMBLY Nov. 8, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 2, 1959 AZ/ 2 Va /22,39"; I fzifaf gas' fi? 2721 3164 g9 49 7/ 1960 R. F. FENDERGAST2,958,989

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SPREADING AND FEEDING ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 2. 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4United States Patent 2,958,989 SPREADING AND FEEDING ASSEMBLY RaymondFrancis Pendergast, 330 Oak Grove Ave., Minneapolis, Minn. Filed Jan. 2,1959, Ser. No. 784,762 16 Claims. (Cl. 51-139) This invention relates toa spreading and feeding assembly for introducing flexible sheet materialinto equipment which will perform additional work thereon. Thisinvention discloses an improvement over that shown in applicants UnitedStates Patent No. 2,860,454, dated November 18, 1958, entitled LeatherSander.

More specifically, this invention relates to a machine which will spreadlaterally a piece of work such as a hide, and feed it in spreadcondition to equipment which will perform some operation on that work.The invention is shown in connection with sanding equipment. This wastrue of the disclosure in the aforesaid patent. However, since theleather spreader was placed on the market, the feed equipment alone hasbeen discovered to be useful in feeding various other types ofequipment, as for example, wringers, spreaders and shavers. There arealso devices for measuring the area of a skin and for eliminating hardspots, the latter being called tempering machines, both of whichfunction better when the flexible material is fed into them in atransversely taut, i.e., stretched, condition.

The parent invention discloses a plate having a concave surface engagedby canted fingers mounted on a shaft. The curved portion of the plate isabove the canted fingers. The axis of the shaft and the curvature of theplate are so related that on the delivery side of the plate the fingersare pressed against the plate, whereas on the lead side they merelyengage it. In this movement, the fingers are bent outwardly, beinginitially canted either to the right or to the left, with the resultthat they spread the flexible material. said patent is illustrated inFigure 7 of this application, which is a portion of Figure 5 of theaforesaid patent.

Referring to Figure 7 herein, the secondary object of the presentinvention is to improve the feeding of the flexible material into thespreader. By referring to Figure 7, the skin is laid on the parallelbelts 12 which carry it under the plate 14 where it is picked up by thefingers 16. Because of gravity, the skin, being between the belts andthe fingers, sags a bit. The man feeding the skin has no firm surfaceupon which to work. A feature of the present invention is the inversionof the entire equipment by placing the plate 14, again referring toFigure 7, beneath the spreading finger shaft 18 and the positioning ofthe feed roll 20 beneath the sanding roll 22.

The primary object of this invention is to grip the skin at the momentthat the fingers have spread it as tightly as they can and carry thespread flexible material to whatever is to work upon it. In explanationof this object, referring again to Figure 7, the fingers 16 exert theirmaximum spreading effect at the lower end 24 of the plate 14. In betweenthe point 26 and the point28, the fingers commence to straighten out,with the result, referring now to Figures 8 and 9, of this application,that the fingers and 30 move respectively from the points 32 to 34 andfrom the points 36 to 38. In so doing, they are moving the stretchedskin back to its unstretched position. There is nothing to stop thisuntil the belts 12, referring to Figure 7, engage the stretched materialat 28 and press it against the feed roll 20.

The principal feature of this invention is the provision of a holdingsurface commencing at the edge 24 of Figure 7, and not shown in thisfigure, which holding surface is engaged by the belts so that at themoment of maximum spreading, the belts grip the flexible work materialand The general structure of the afore- 1 hold it irrespective offurther activity by the fingers. As will appear, the holding surfaceintersects the spreading surface at a comparatively sharp angle so thatthe flexible material is redirected into this plane. This edge ofintersection is called the transfer edge. The fingers move across thisedge and snap it straight.

Another object of the invention is associated with the spreading andfeeding assembly as distinct from the particular type of machine withwhich it is used. As suggested above, in the case of sanding equipment,the feed roll for use with this spreader is beneath the sanding roll orthe sanding belt. to provide a ready means for varying the degree ofdeflection of the fingers at the transfer edge. It is desirable that thefingers slip as little over the surface of the flexible feed material asis consistent with properly spreading it,

and since the material varies, it is desirable to be able to adjust withlittle difliculty the extent of the spreading effect provided by thefingers.

A feature of this invention is the mounting of the spreading fingershaft on pillow blocks which can be slid in guideways so as to comecloser to the concave portion of the spreading plate adjacent thetransfer edge.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for positivelydriving the belt. the belts were driven by the feed roll of the sandingmachine, engaging them as shown in Figure 7. These belts should besynchronized with the surface speed of the feed roll in order to obtainthe best results.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained bythe embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of the feed side of the spreading andfeeding assembly, mounted on a sanding machine which with the exceptionof the belt and feed roll is shown generally in dotted outline;

Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, which line is tothe left of the center of the spreader shown in Figure l by three fingerstar wheels, that is, on the line 22 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view taken on the line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a view taken on the line 55 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a plan view of a skin showing typical wrinkles;

Figure 7 is a portion of Figure 5 of the aforesaid patent;

Figure 9 is a view taken on the line 99 of Figure 7 for the purpose ofshowing how the fingers can release and tend to re-crease the skin whenit is moving through the short distance indicated by the arrows 26 and28 of Figure 7; and, I

Figure 10 is a plan view of the right end of the spreader with the hideomitted as presented in Figure 1 with drive means for connecting to asanding machine.

Continuing to refer to the drawings, the numeral 40 identifies aspreading plate which constitutes the base of the assembly. It ismounted by any suitable brackets such as 42 and 44 on the feed side ofwhatever type of apparatus the sheet material is to be fed into. In thiscase, it is shown on the feed side of a sanding machine 46, shown indotted outline. The spreading plate 40, referring to Figure 2, is aheavy casting having a concave cylindrical upwardly directed wall 48,called the spreading surface, which terminates at the edge 50 where thespreading surface is intercepted by a holding surface 52, which lies ina flat plane. Returning to Figure 1, mounted by any suitable means atopposite ends of the spreading plate are end members 54 and 56. Each endmember carries two guideways such as 58 and 60 on member 54. Mounted inthe guideway 58, referring to Patented Nov. 8, 1960 This object of theinvention seeks In the aforesaid patent,

3 Figure 2, is a slide 62 carrying a pillow block for holding a belttension shaft 64. The shaft 64, therefore, is held between the framemembers 54 and 56, and its position is adjustable in the guideways bymeans of bolts such as 66 having threads engaging an internally threadedblock 68 mounted on the frame 54. The slide 62 may be moved to the leftor the right by turning the handle 70. The end 73 of the bolt 66 isseated in a socket in the slide 62.

Similarly, the guideways such as 60, continuing to re fer to Figure 2,receive for reciprocating movement a slide 72 which carries a pillowblock which supports the spreading finger shaft 74. Reciprocal movementof the shaft toward or away from the spreading surface 48 is effected bya bolt 76 threaded through a block 78 on the frame 54. It may be turnedby the handle 80. The slide is parallel to the surface of the spreadingplate 40, This in itself is not important, but it is important that thetransfer edge 50 and the axis of the shaft 74 be in a line substantiallyparallel to the longitudinal axes of the guideways such as 60. The shaft74, therefore, can be moved toward or away from the spreading surface.Extending forwardly of each of the frames 54 and 56 are arms 84 and 86.The ends of these arms are joined to each other by a heavy bar 88, seeFigures 2 and 10. Mounted on the forward end of this bar and supportedat intervals is a small shaft 90. As shown, this shaft is not rotatable.It has a very smooth surface and with certain belts. particularly nylonbelts, it is useful because its small diameter enables the operator toinsert the delivery side of the spreading assembly deep into the bight92 between the feed roll 94 and the sanding surface 96 (belt or roll).Where the work requires the use of a belt which does not slide easilyover the surface of 90 but requires a rotatable shaft, such a shaft ismounted at the position of 90 although closer to the cross bar 88 toaccommodate its greater diameter.

Returning now to the spreading finger shaft 74, Figure 2, there is keyedto the shaft a plurality of spaced star wheels composed of flexiblematerial such as rubber. As shown, each star has six points and the endsof the points are flattened, see Figure 2, so asto provide a longsurface for engaging the work. Viewed from the side, as in Figure 2, thestars are staggered with respect to each other. Referring to Figure 3,the lower halves of the stars 100, 102 and 104 and the belts 112 areshown in cross section with the shaft and pulleys in elevation. Thesestar wheels are keyed to the shaft and turn in a clockwise direction asindicated by the arrow 106 in Figure 2.

Returning to Figure 3, between adjacent star wheels on the spreadingfinger shaft 74 are pulleys such as 108 and 110. These pulleys arefreely rotatable on the shaft 74. Entrained over each pulley such as 108over the shaft 64, referring to Figure 2, and over the small shaft 90,is a belt 112. The structure may be generally perceived in Figures 1 and10, and is seen to consist of a plurality of spaced belts between whichoperate the star wheels which engage the spreading surface 48.

Unlike the spreader in applicants copending application, where the beltsare driven at the same speed as the feed roll, referring to Figure 7 ofthis application, because they engage the feed roll in the are betweenthe arrow 26 and the arrow 114, in the construction here, the belts donot engage the feed roll 94, referring to Figure 2, at any point oftheir flight. Consequently, the belts must be driven. In the presentapplication, referring to Figure 10, the drive is from the tension shaft64 which by a gearing 65 is driven from a worm 67 of the principalmachine 46 at a speed such that its linear speed and that of theentrained belts is identical to the surface speed of the feed roll 94.

The shaft 74, carrying the finger spreading star Whee s, is driven (by agear 75 and worm 77 from the principal machine) at a speed such that at@1 9 p n 9f fifi 9 tact with the work, i.e., at 116, see Figure 2, thework will be moving at the same speed as the belt. As the work 118approaches the transfer edge 50, with the shaft 74 in the positionshown, it will tend to move a little more slowly, but the belt picks itup and resumes speed. There may be some circumferential spreadingbetween the fingers and the work on the spreading surface, dependingupon the extent of the shortening of the radius between the point 116and the transfer edge 50. The coupling for driving either shaft fromwhatever type of machine the spreader is mounted upon is conventional.It is not necessary that the work not slip on the feed roll. Actually,the relationship of the various components causes the work to adjiistitself as it goes through the equipment that is operating on the work.

Operation The workman lays a' hide on the fiat surface 41 in Figure l asshown. Initially, the hide is picked up by the fingers of the starwheels and since this engagement is not too positive, the workman cancontrol the hide until it passes over the transfer edge 50. At this edge50, the work is held by the belts at a tension such that the workman canno longer hold the hide. He does, however, have four or five inches inthe initial feed which gives him some control in doing his part of thefeeding.

The hide is automatically carried to the bight and the productinspected. If one is putting through a sheepskin, the spreading requiredmay be quite different from what is required for a pigs hide. Theadjustability of the pressure of the fingers against the spreadingsurface is of great importance and this is the advantage of mounting thespreading finger shaft on slides such as 22 which can be easily anddelicately adjusted with respect to the spreading surface. Uponinspection, if the surface indicates that it needs more or less sanding,the operator may increase the pressure exerted by the pressure roll, orincrease the speed of the sanding belt or sanding roll, or increase thespeed of the feed roll. By increasing the speed of the feed roll, hewill automatically increase the speed of the element, i.e., shaft 64,that is driving the belts 112 because of the direct mechanicalconnection between this element and the feed roll of the machine.

The rapidity with which a skin is fed through the spreading mechanism issubstantially immaterial. For certain hides, the linear speed of thehide may be as much as 20 feet a second, which means that the hide whengripped at the transfer edge 50 disappears from the spreading plate 41faster than the eye can follow it. For other operations, i.e., detectinghard spots in a hide, the machine and spreading assembly will beoperated much more slowly. The speed at which the sanding surface of thedrum 98 engages the work is not material to the spreader. This speed maybe several times that of the feed roll 94.

The pressing of the star finger shaft, referring to Figure 2, toward thespreading surface 48 is limited by the necessity of keeping the fingersout of alignment with the belts. Referring to Figure 5, the spreadingedge 119 must not be farther to the left than that shown when it reachesthe transfer edge 50 of Figure 2. If it does, it will catch momentarilyunder the belt 120, which will wear both the belt and the fingers and tosome extent inipair the spreading effect. I

As suggested heretofore, the feeding assembly may be inserted into thebite of whatever it is feeding to any selected depth. This is effectedby two shafts, one at each side of the feeding assembly, such as 122,see Figure 1. By adjusting the finger wheel 124, the entire assemblymaybe moved forwardly or rearwardly, the particular attachment to themachine being immaterial.

In the claims, the surface 52 is" referred to as the holding surfacejand it is intended that the belts 112 engage this surface throughout itsentire extent from the deliverytr nsfer edge sor the teen edge 51. Thenumeral 50 identifies the transfer edge, and in some claims is referredto as the delivery-transfer edge and it defines the line between theholding surface 52 and the spreading surface 48. The external are hereis in excess of 180. As a practical matter, it is best to have it closeto 240. The spreading surface is the arcuate surface of the plate 40. Asshown, it is approximately a 90 segment of a cylinder and like theholding surface is smooth. The surface 41 is the layout surface uponwhich the operator can lay out the skin. The plate 40 is shown as asingle casting which is one way of making it, but the holding surfaceand spreading surface and layout surface may be referred to as a holdingsurface on the plate in the claims. It may be that these surfaces willbe formed out of plates shaped in dies in preference to using a casting.

Having thus described my invention, applicant claims:

1. A spreading and feeding assembly comprising a frame, a shaft mountedhorizontal-1y on the frame, a plate having a smooth spreading surfacemounted on and below the shaft and having a straight delivery-transferedge parallel to the shaft and a receiving edge, and means mounted onthe shaft intermediate the delivery and receiving edges and engageablewith the smooth surface of the plate for moving toward the delivery edgeand for spreading toward opposite ends of the plate a piece of flexiblesheet material passed between the shaft and the plate, whereby the sheetmaterial may be rested on the plate before engagement by the spreadingmeans on the shaft.

2. The spreading and feeding assembly of claim 1 wherein the smoothspreading surface is concave.

3. The spreading and feeding assembly of claim 1 wherein the spreadingsurface is a concave segment of a cylinder.

4. In combination with the spreading and feeding assembly of claim 1, amachine for performing operations on the surface of flexible materialwherein :a feed roll is' mounted adjacent the delivery side of thespreading and feeding assembly and the mechanism for performingoperations on the flexible sheet material is mounted above the feedroll.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the machine is a sanding machinehaving an intake bight between a lower feed roll and an upwardlydisposed cylindrical sanding surface.

6. In combination with the spreading and feeding assembly of claim 4, amachine having a driven feed roll and means for driving the piece offlexible sheet material through the spreading and feeding assembly atthe same speed as the feed roll.

7. A spreading and feeding assembly comprising a frame, a shaft mountedon the frame, a plate having a smooth spreading surface facing the shaftand mounted on the frame, said plate having a straight delivery edgeparallel to the shaft called the transfer edge, a plate having a smoothholding surface mounted on the frame and extending from said transferedge at an external angle exceeding 180, means on the shaft engageablewith the spreading surface for spreading toward opposite ends of theplate at the transfer edge a piece of flexible sheet material passedbetween the shaft and the plate, and means engageable with the holdingsurface commencing at the transfer edge for holding the spread, flexiblesheet material and advancing it across the holding surface.

8. The spreading and feeding assembly of claim 7 wherein the holding andadvancing means engageable with the holding surface comprises beltsengaging said surface at the transfer edge and moving away from the edgeof said surface.

9. The spreading and feeding assembly of claim 7 wherein the smoothspreading surface is arcuate.

10. The spreading and feeding assembly of claim 7" wherein the smoothspreading surface isa segment of a cylinder.

11. The spreading and feeding assembly of claim 7 wherein the means forspreading the flexible material are spaced star wheels having flexiblefingers spaced one from another, and wherein the means for holding theflexible material against the holding surface comprises an idler shaftmounted on the frame parallel to the first shaft, a delivery edge on theplate having the holding surface parallel to the transfer edge, a shaftof comparatively small diameter mounted on the frame and spaced fromsaid delivery edge and a plurality of belts entrained over the idlershaft and the last-mentioned shaft so as to engage the holding surfacecommencing at the transfer edge and extending near the delivery edge.

12. The spreading and feeding assembly of claim 11 wherein the idlershaft is mounted forwardly of the main shaft and the belts are entrainedadditionally over the main shaft, each between adjacent star wheels.

13. A spreading and feeding assembly comprising a frame, a shaft mountedon the frame, flexible fingers having a common radius mounted on theshaft, a plate having a segment of a smooth, concave, cylindricalsurface produced by a radius approximately equal to the radius of thefingers facing the fingers and the shaft, and means for altering theradial spacing between the shaft and a line parallel to the axis of thecylinder while maintaining the radial spacing between said shaft andsaid surface of the plate at a point approximately of are therefrom.

14. A spreading and feeding assembly comprising a frame having twooppositely disposed end members, a guideway mounted in each end member,said guideways being in transverse alignment, a slide in each guideway,means associated with each slide for positioning them in theirassociated guideways, a shaft having its opposite ends mounted in saidslides, flexible fingers having a common radius mounted on the shaft,and a plate mounted on the frame and having a smooth, concave,approximately 90 cylindrical surface facing the shaft and fingers, saidplate having a delivery-transfer edge lying in a line parallel to thelongitudinal axes of the guideways and a receiving line approximately 90away from the delivery-transfer edge and at a distance from the shaftapproximating the radius of the fingers, whereby movement of the slidestoward the delivery-transfer edge will press the fingers more tightlyagainst the plate as they approach the delivery-transfer edge.

15. A spreading and feeding assembly comprising a frame having twooppositely disposed end members, a guideway mounted in each end member,said guideways being in transverse alignment, a slide in each guideway,means associated with each slide for positioning them in theirassociated guideways, a shaft having its opposite ends mounted in saidslides, flexible fingers having a common radius mounted on the shaft, aplate mounted on the frame and having a smooth, concave, approximately90 cylindrical surface facing the shaft and fingers, said plate having adelivery-transfer edge lying in a line parallel to the longitudinal axesof the guideways and a receiving line approximately 90 away from thedelivery-transfer edge and at a distance from the shaft approximatingthe radius of the fingers, a second guideway and reciprocatable slidedisposed therein mounted on each end member, a tension shaft mountedbetween these two slides, a fixed shaft mounted between the end membersand that side of the main shaft on which lies the delivery-transfer edgeof the plate and spaced outwardly from said edge, and a plurality ofbelts entrained over the fixed shaft, the tension shaft and the mainshaft, each belt passing between adjacent sets of fingers.

16. The spreading and feeding assembly of claim 15 wherein a platehaving a smooth holding surface is disposed between thedelivery-transfer edge of the first plate and a point adjacent the fixedshaft and engageable by said belts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,860,454 Pendergast Nov. 18 1958

